Russians, Chinese, and Indians comprise the top visitors to the island, Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat said during the launch of the TAT tourism report on Aug 25, reports the Bangkok Post.
About 7.6mn visitors arrived between January and July, generating B290 billion in revenue.
Some 887,000 tourists were reported in July, 43% of whom were Europeans, generating B36bn in revenue.
The TAT also reported a total hotel occupancy rate in July of 63.99%, and 76.61% on average between the months of January and July.
Flights to Phuket increased by almost 6% during that seven-month period, compared to the same time last year. Some 7,896 flights landed at Phuket International Airport in July, or a total of 63,007 from January to July.
This year also saw three new flight route openings in Phuket: AirAsia’s Medan-Phuket route, which operates four flights a week; Asiana Airlines’ Seoul-Phuket route, which operates 14 flights a week; and Air France’s Paris-Phuket route, which runs three times a week.
The TAT also reported that 154,217 visitors arrived on the island on 55 tourist boats, and another 670 on 527 yachts.
Phuket saw 13.1mn tourists last year, making it the top tourism revenue generator among all the Thai provinces, bringing in B497bn for the whole of 2024.